Impact of AI on BPO Industry
Presently, a well-known engineering university is piloting a sophisticated AI product expected to come on line in the next 2-3 months. This invention promises to significantly reduce costs through automation of call centre operations by performing tasks automatically. Major tech companies such as OpenAI with its GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini are challenging the traditional business process outsourcing (BPO) model as artificial intelligence (AI) competition heats up. According to experts, these technologies could eliminate up to 50% of current industry jobs.
OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Its Industry Disruptions
Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s GPT-4o has made huge impacts in various industries especially BPO. This advanced AI model that powers ChatGPT supports real-time text, voice, and visual inputs. Current applications of AI are already enhancing customer service operations most especially by improving language capabilities and responsiveness in contact centers according Infosys’ Chief Technology Officer Rafee Tarafdar..
Tarafdar said, ““The shift will happen where they will start focusing on more value creative work rather than regular work which slowly will get eliminated.”
Perspectives from HR about adoption of AI
According to Aditya Mishra, MD & CEO at staffing firm CIEL HR Artificial Intelligence may not fully automate lower-level executive roles, but it could result in half of these jobs becoming obsolete. Businesses should focus on employees willing learners who quickly adapt when new skills become necessary. He stressed averting job cuts for the unadaptable staff.
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Cost Efficiency and Competitive Edge
By being amongst the first users of AI within the BPO industry can realize significant cost reductions accompanied by better services levels thereby giving them a competitive advantage over others. Mishra stated that banks that failed to embrace computer technology in the past might run into similar problems if they resist integration of AI. Kapil Joshi, Deputy CEO at Quess IT Staffing, emphasized the need to reskill employees in new technologies and move from transactional to more analytical and decision-making roles.
University’s AI Integration and Cost Savings
At the educational forefront, Lovely Professional University (LPU) is testing an AI system expected to go live soon. This move will eliminate the need for human call centre agents for routine queries, significantly reducing costs. Aman Mittal, Vice President of LPU, said, “I don’t need to put a person there; I just need to put AI, train it on my database and on my information so that it can respond better and faster than me.”
Limitations of AI
However promising as it sounds, there are limits associated with Artificial Intelligence particularly in addressing issues that require emotional intelligence or a nuanced understanding. According Neeti Sharma-CEO of Teamlease digital this points towards its inability to solve complex matters especially since they generally require emotional quotient (EQ). Despite features like Voice Mode in such an advanced model as GPT-4o by OpenAI, their ability to mimic human interaction has not been fully realized.
Biases and Hidden Costs
Sharma also observed that Western-developed AI models may carry geo-demographic biases. For instance cultural differences in color symbolism can result into misinterpretation when dealing with these systems. Also writing for Forbes India Satya Gupta warned against ignoring the hidden costs including lots of electricity consumption which could be associated with artificial intelligence. Eventually as these systems become increasingly sophisticated they could consume energy equivalent or even surpass that required by human laborers.
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Optimism about AI’s Future
However, some experts are optimistic about the future impact of AI. Prasadh MS who is the Head of Workforce Research at Xpheno believes that the abilities of AI such as those in GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini are going to have a significant influence on manpower planning and budgeting. He thinks that workers will gain from digital labor-intensive AI-powered personal assistants thereby improving the overall service capacity.
To sum up, while advancements in artificial intelligence hold out the promise of cost savings and efficiencies, they also present challenges including job losses, built-in prejudices, excessive energy use among others. The future of sectors like BPO will change if they find a way to balance AI integration with human expertise and deal with these issues.
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